I really don’t like the ‘cutesy’ way research trials have been named for the last ten years or so – but in this case – I will just have to look past it. There is a new trial on the horizon that sounds promising; the Traditional Invasive versus Minimally Invasive Esophagectomy (TIME) trial based in the Netherlands. It is a multi-center trial taking place at six hospitals in Europe. This trial will compare both morbidity and mortality in patients undergoing traditional esophagectomy (Ivor Lewis) and patients undergoing minimally – invasive (thoracoscopy combined with laparoscopy) after both sets of patients receive adjuvant chemotherapy. (This approach differs from the transhiatal esophagectomy developed at the University of Michigan in the 1970’s).
The researchers are planning for a five-year follow-up to compare both immediate post-operative complications / mortality with long-term effects (QoL) and cancer recurrence.
The full article is detailed on Medscape. (Also published in BMC Surgery. 2011;11 ). This couldn’t come at a more appropriate time, with recent data showing an abrupt rise in the incidence of esophageal cancer.
In an article (Chustecka) dated from September 2010, British researchers at Cancer Research UK reported a 50% increase in diagnoses of esophageal cancer in the last 25 years, particularly in men in their 50’s. (with an incidence of 14.4 men per 100,000, to put it into perspective, up from 9.9 in 1983.)
More concerning, is the fact that the prevalence of the types of cancer are changing. Previously, the majority of esophageal cancers were caused by squamous cell carcinoma which is linked to smoking and alcohol use. This study, along with an American study, shows an increasing incidence of adenocarcinoma, which is more commonly attributable to gastroesophageal reflux (Barrett’s esophagus). Researchers (Dr. Mark Orringer) estimate that the incidence of adenocarcinoma of the esophagus has increased by 350% in the last thirty years – and is directly related to huge increases in obesity. It now accounts for over 85% of esophageal cancers in the USA.
We’ll bring you more as the trial continues, and preliminary results are reported.
(Dr. Mark Orringer, who was quoted in the original medscape article from 2007 is one of several pioneering surgeons in thoracic surgery. He invented two of the surgical techniques in use today; the aforementioned transhiatal esophagectomy and the Collis -Nissen hiatal hernia repair.)
Thoracic Surgery 